Progress?

People are asking — politely, offline, bless their courteous hearts — for more pictures of the house. I’d love to have more to show but right now all I have are acres of drywall and vaguely obscene images like this one. Really, I’m living in the land of weird right now.

Yesterday we all got together for a site meeting. I had the fun of trying to keep a perfectly straight face as I asked, so, what is this?

Seriously, it’s in a narrow corridor sticking out of the wall. Back when I started in construction, this would have been a contractor prank. Today, with these guys, it’s a real thing. But what?

It turns out that the electricians got worried that the corridor and adjacent bathroom might get cold, so they decided — surprise! — to add a radiator. They will take one of my thinner older radiators — I am told that the older ones work better than the newer ones but don’t ask me why — refurbish it and hang it right there, smack in the middle of the hall.

So any guests who find themselves working their way around an immovable object on their way to their room, take it as a compliment. It means I think you’re skinny enough to handle it.

No, we like “during” also
I post that all the time as we have virtually no “after” yet, just a few “nearly” and lots of “half finished”
To me it is the whole process from what you started with to the finished product.
Now, you didn’t post “before” photos of every space did you, your Majesty?
So I have little to compare with, and you won’t be bale to feel so smug when it’s all done and dusted

I think I pretty much did show every space. If not, I showed plenty. The house is symmetrical. It actually has a design and wasn’t cobbled together. Such things are practically unheard of in 19th century French country houses, which is one reason I jumped so precipitously to buy it. So you may have seen a space and not realized it was a different space from the one I showed before. I don’t think the after photos will be quite that way.

PS
We are keeping ALL our old radiators still in French house.
some have been moved to more sensible places (like the one that prevented the dining room window opening) but they are much more efficient than ANY of the expensive all singing/dancing newer ones I have had in UK houses- bit battered, but saving us a shedload

Yes, that’s exactly it. They can refurbish these for less than the cost of a new one. The refurb will have more character and work better than a new one. Weird. When it comes to heat transmission I would have thought that the modern stuff would at least have efficiency on its side. I’m actually looking forward to having a radiator in an odd location. I have been a little worried that with everything going all plumb, level and efficient, the house would lose its character. Maybe the house is pushing back a little, which in this case is probably a good thing.

Oh yeah, they will. Talk to the house…. I’ll tell you a story that I have not posted, for fear that it will seem a little too New Age Space Cadet. Let’s see whether anyone else reads these comments. Before I bought the house, I went to a woman in Mill Valley, Jane Bell. Jane Bell, just like that little boy in the movie, sees dead people. She also communicates with the spirits of animals and inanimate objects, including buildings. Jane, I said, check out this house for me, have a talk with it. Tell me whether it will be a money pit. Tell the house that we’re going to really rip into it but that in the end it will be better than new. No, said she, it won’t be a money pit; maybe I should have asked her to define her terms.J Then she said the house was sad from sitting empty for so long. It was glad to be refurbished. It wanted vibrant paint colors. So, okay, Chemise, Aquamarine and Gentle Sky are my gifts to the house.

Well if you are a bit of a space cadet, then so am I and we can probably blame the “alternative youth culture ” That I suspect we both grew up in .
Flaky or not, my house has presence and personality, even Mr Logical agrees. And it was very very very sad when we found it.

Oh, yeah. They talk, even if we can’t hear them as well as Jane Bell can. Mine is screaming for Chemise, in the bedroom that was used by the last woman who lived there. Yes, another single woman. I half expect to see her walking the corridors, one day. And, funny thing, I have not yet found a use for that room. I may let her keep it for a while.